


Accessories

by stateofintegrity



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25532257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stateofintegrity/pseuds/stateofintegrity
Summary: Sometimes the only way to survive an ugly war is to try to make it prettier.
Relationships: Maxwell Klinger/Charles Emerson Winchester III
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Accessories

Klinger in fatigues was a novel sight during Charles Emerson Winchester’s first year at MASH 4077, but it did happen. The presence of said fatigues, however, in no way diminished the Corporal's affection for perfume (orange vanilla if Charles could trust his nose; Margaret might think it insensate, but his sense of smell was quite developed by years of being an oenophile). Nor did army green mean the absence of earrings or a signature fan. Klinger had dozens and he took care to rotate them so that they matched something, even if it was subtle. Sometimes it took all day, but Charles usually made the connection. 

And while he was mentally taking note of fans (the latest was tiger orange with the image of the Chinese dragon Yazi stenciled across its colorful folds), a mystery began unfolding … right under his nose. 

Charles discovered the first pair of cufflinks with his feet; they’d been wrapped in a twist of tissue paper and tucked into his boots. If his toes had encountered porridge or an appendix, he would have suspected his bunkmates. But a gift? Definitely not the doctorly duo. 

Perplexed but pleased, he put the pair in his foot locker, only to find them out  _ again _ on his return.  _ Hmm. A message?  _ He thought of  _ Alice and Wonderland  _ and the Eat Me cakes. Were these cufflinks trying to say “Wear Me?” 

At first it felt silly to adorn army green, but then Charles thought of Klinger with his earrings, his tinted lips, his shimmer-dusted eyes, the flowers he wore behind his ears, and relented. A little sparkle harmed no one - and they were a handsome set: howlite set in silver, grey and white as cliffs arching over seafoam. No one commented on his new accessories that night, but the next week he gained a second set - red jasper and gold this time. 

And it only took him a few days to see the exact same color scheme repeated - in Klinger’s latest fan (the drawing, this time, was koi). Abandoning his tray, Charles went to sit beside the ever-accessorized Corporal, inhaling the scent of vanilla bean and mandarin oranges as he did so. And if his thigh was snug against the other man’s, who could see? 

“Thank you, Max.”

“Just wanted to show you we could match, sir.” He opened the fan and laughed behind it. With his mouth momentarily hidden, Charles couldn’t help but focus on the eyes that managed to be both dark and bright at once, the dark lashes. 

“Very well at that,” Charles agreed, eyes flicking between the fan’s colors and the red-gold shine at his wrist. 

“Soul mates. Tried to tell you once.”

Under the table, Charles rested a hand on his thigh. “It seems you were very right.”

And though the couture Corporal continued to ensure that they matched (handkerchiefs were an adventure of their own), Charles had found the only accessory he’d ever need to feel handsome - and he wore it on his arm (and held it tightly in them) as often as he could.

End! 

**Author's Note:**

> HC shared by swamp_thing. Thank you!


End file.
